An In-Depth Review Of The Best Potato Mashers In The Market

Crushing cooked food has never been made easier than with a potato masher. You’ve probably seen this shiny steel tool which sports a long handle and large gauge wire mashing head somewhere in your silverware collection.

That thing has a name – it’s a potato masher. From pureeing baby food to delivering a smooth mashed potato, you can rely on the best potato mashers to do the job.

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If it’s your first time hearing about this mechanical device, don’t fret because we’re here to widen your horizon about potato mashers.

First off, potato mashers aren’t solely meant for mashing potatoes – there’s so much more to it! Also, you have to know the types of potato mashers to narrow down your choices further.

And finally, we’ll also be reviewing the best potato mashers in the market. Are you ready? Let’s start!

Clever Uses For Potato Mashers

We all like kitchen tools which do more than one job. One such tool is the potato masher which is a lot more versatile than you imagined.

On that note, here are some useful handy ways to use a potato masher for tasks other than mashing potatoes.

Making Egg Salad

Save yourself the hassle of dicing hard-boiled eggs with a potato masher. You’ll undoubtedly be saving time while producing more yummy egg salad for the family!

Chopping Nuts

Soft nuts like walnuts are easier crushed with potato mashers than chopping them individually with a knife. Simply mash walnuts then top your cakes, ice creams, and other delectable desserts with it.

Crushing Broccoli

Soft, steamed broccoli is a lot easier to break up using a potato masher. Since these mashers have air spaces, broccoli won’t turn out to be too chunky nor too fine – it’ll have just the right texture.

Breaking Tofu

Tofu scramble, a vegan breakfast favorite, is just as tasty as scrambled egg but with lesser fat content. Quickly break up cooked tofu with a potato masher to achieve that perfect crumbly texture.

Creating Baking Crumbs

Toss those pieces of broken cookies and crackers into a bowl, or sealable bag then use a potato masher to break them up into crumbs.

You can sprinkle these tasty crumbs into your favorite ice cream!

Mashing Baby Food

If your baby has reached the age where he/she is ready to move beyond pureed food, you can rely on a potato masher to crush cooked veggies and fruits into something less chunky and bite-sized

Feeding your child with chunkier food items is a great way to of helping him/her move towards solid foods.

Breaking Up Ground Meat

Cooking ground meat for pasta sauces is a bit tricky because most home chefs end up with unevenly cooked meat.

To solve this problem, use your masher to break the meat up and distribute it evenly throughout the pan so that it browns well.

Types Of Potato Mashers

Early potato mashers were made of either wood or smooth stone. During the dawn of the machine age, the old wood masher evolved into wooden mallets.

In the mid to late 1800s, the two modern masher designs we typically see today emerged – the branding iron masher and round masher.

Branding iron, the most commonly used and popular masher, features an S-wound wire that is flat at the bottom.

This style is preferred by those who like chunky food because the spaces between the S winds offer enough room to prevent overmashing.

On the other hand, the round masher displays a circular disc with drilled holes. It’s likewise effective in mashing soft foods, but the danger is, it may overmash potatoes.

Potato Masher vs. Potato Ricer

Another tool usually confused with potato mashers are potato ricers. Both extrusion tools can mash potatoes, but potato ricers are especially ideal for producing grainy, rice-like potatoes, hence the name.

This tool utilizes a hopper where you’ll put in the cooked potato and a plunger which forces the food down into through the ricer’s holes – reminiscent of ice shavers.

Using ricers require less effort since the air trapped inside the hopper cuts down the force users need to plunge. The resulting product is finely mashed, smooth potatoes without any lumps.

The only downside of this device is it’s quite hard to use whenmashing unpeeled potatoes since the skin tends to clog the ricer’s holes.

Now that you know, how the types of potato mashers and how this device works, perhaps it’s time to reveal to you, our dear readers, the best mashed potato recipe.

Featuring a simple yet innovative design, KUPKO’s potato masher, our top pick for the best potato masher, allows easy mashing with less pressure.

Unlike traditional mashers which feature vertical handles that are somewhat tiring to use since users have to put in some muscle and exert some effort while mashing, KUPKO’s masher employs a broad horizontal handle that is super convenient to use and requires little force and pressure.

This masher is meant for people suffering from degenerative disorders and arthritis due to its innovative horizontal handle.

Mashers with vertical handles proved difficult for certain individuals to use since it requires the application of force and pressure – a significant hindrance to some people because of their weakened muscles.

Apart from its innovative handle, we also loved the rubberized handle which ensures a solid grip, as well as the wide mashing plate with a large surface area that is very helpful in preventing potatoes from slipping around.

We guarantee, your mashing time will be cut in half by using this terrific masher!The only thing we dislike about this product is its short handle which makes it difficult to mash food items in deep pots.

Pros

Cons

Jamie Oliver’s potato masher is not your typical masher. Yes, it does sport the old school vertical handle, but it also has unique features to compensate for it.

First off, the masher’s made from stainless steel, all the way from the handle down to the plate. A great thing about the handle is it possesses a soft-grip insert that makes it comfortable to work with even for long hours.

We also noticed that the plate’s made up of different-sized holes. It turns out that the purpose of this variation is to prevent any lumps from forming -- the mashed outcome of the larger holes will then be mashed once more by the smaller holes to ensure that there are zero lumps.

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The best thing about this masher is its unique silicone bowl scraper, which aims to remove everything you mash from the bowl or container, translating to less wastage.

What drew us into this masher in the first place is its odd shape – it’s not shaped anything like other potato mashers. We’re glad that we tried this one because it’s fantastic!

This masher has a great and sturdy ergonomic handle, a nifty bowl scraper, and it mashes like a dream. However, if there’s one flaw with this masher, it’s got to be the weight – it’s a little too heavy on the hand.

Pros

Cons

The second runner-up in our little list, OXO’s potato masher, is definitely a breather. Showing off an S-shaped branding iron, this masher is ideal for mashing potatoes, vegetables, and fruits.

Among its features include a stainless steel wire head, cushioned non-slip handle, and a hole for hanging.

We can say that this masher is pretty basic, but we’re astounded by the handle’s design and construction. The soft, rubber-cushioned handle ensures an excellent non-slip grip whether your hands are wet or dry.

But if you’re looking forward to a creamy mashed potato, know that this masher won’t be able to provide you with that. Since the spaces of the wire head are far in between, the resulting product is chunky, rather than the creamy type.

But you can still use it for many purposes – from mashing potatoes and cauliflower, to browning meats.

Their heavy duty stainless steel round potato masher features an ergonomic rubberized handle that makes the mashing process easy and pain-free. Furthermore, this model has an easy clean design and is dishwasher-safe.

Overall, this is a typical masher, nothing so special. This tool is very solid, from the top to bottom. The metal is actually very thick, and instead of a twisted wire, you get a solid metal plate with strategically placed holes for the potatoes to squish through.

We think that this masher may last a lifetime of use and abuse, and it took much less time than normal to mash a pot of potatoes.

Clean up was super quick and easy too. This masher does a good job but it’s quite heavy and we think that it has too much metal and not enough holes which make mashing a bit tiresome.

Pros

Easy to use

Has an ergonomic handle

Cons

Last but not the least, we have OXO’s Nylon Potato Masher for non-stick cookware. Constructed from sturdy, heat-resistant nylon, this masher is your best bet for mashing food items while they’re cooking without the fear of burning your hands.

It features a vertically-lined mashing head with short spaces in between as well as a non-slip, flexible, and rubberized handle made from the same material as dishwasher gaskets that can withstand up to 400 degrees F.

We absolutely loved this masher’s beautiful design, but it’s nearly impossible to mash potatoes or anything else with this tool.

The face of this masher consists of about 50 % flat plastic which is next to impossible to force through even the softest cooked spuds.

If you are using non-stick pans, you might want to try to wrestle with it, but if you have regular steel pans, it’d be best to go with the old reliable bent wire masher.

The Verdict

We commend the manufacturer of this tool for creating an innovative design that will benefit people suffering from degenerative disorders and arthritis.

Unlike traditional mashers with vertical handles, KUPKO’s masher employed a broad horizontal handle that is super convenient to use and requires little force and pressure.

Aside from its terrific handle, anyone will surely find the wide mashing plate handy since it mashes more product in a given time frame than a narrower plate and it also prevents potatoes from slipping around.